Knitting machine



Jan. 6, 1942 J. SAFTLAS ETAL i 2,259,288

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 17, 1938 Patented Jan. 6, 19142 KNITTIN G MACHINE Joseph Saftlas and Mendel Grosskopf, Philadelphia, Pa.; said Grosskopf assigner to said Saftlas Application september 1,7, 193s, serial No. 230,484

(c1. ca -5o) 12 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and'novel type of knitting machine needle or other knitting instrumentalities adapted to be employedin knitting machines of the single or double bank type, `veither flat or circular, single or multiple feed,

with or without striping attachments, and with or without pattern wheels, trick-wheels, jacquard or other mechanism for' producing designs in or on one or both faces of a fabric.

The needle or other knittinginstrumentalitiesj contemplated by the present inventionl is preferably provided with a thick butt, i. e., a butt thicker than the normal body or shank of the needle etc. as distinguished from a needle etc.

having the butt and shank of one and the same thickness, or substantially so, and which regardless of its shape and/or other characteristics is referred to throughout the specification and claims of the present case as -regular, for the purpose of illustration.

The needle, for example, of the present inven` needle is intended, it being understood that ther thickeningv `ofthe butt is'produced on that portion of the butt of a needle which normally projects beyond and at right angles to the face of the 'needle bed in which the needle slots are formed, as will be hereinafter described.

The present invention is applicable to the knitting of plain, true-rib or imitation-rib fabrics pose disclosed in the specification and shown in the various drawings of copending application Serial No. 168,071, filed October 8, 1937, wherein an elastic yarn or yarns is laid in predetermined courses and knit-in in lpredetermined wales 'on and with or in lieu of stitches-which would normally be composed of inelastic body yarn, to tie the elastic yarn in thefabric along groups of wales forming marginal edges of blanks for stocking tops, etc., which may be' produced by cutting'the fabric in a walewise direction between Aor adjacent to wales in which the elastic yarn is. knitin,.in order that the elastic yarn willnot slip back into the fabric from the cutting line after the fabric has been severed along such line.

The present invention contemplates, for use in a machine having thick butt needles interspersed among the regular needles in the needle bed, a selecting or controlling wheel set at a predetermined angle to an otherwise normal path of the needle butts, regular and thick, and provided in its peripheralface with slots of suflicient depth and width to permit the regular needle butts to pass freely therethrough but which are notof suicient width to permit the thick butts to pass through, whereby the thick butts will engage or be engaged by the slot Walls of the wheel adjac-ent the slots registering with the needles having the thick butts, which will cause the thick .butt needles to be projected-beyond the regularr butt needles for example into latch clearing posicomposed of oneor more primary body yarns with anadditional yarn or yarns laid in predetermined portions of predetermined stitch courses and knit-in in predetermined portions of predetermined stitch wales either as plating stitches or stitches produced of the additional yarn in lieu' of stitchesA which would normally be composed of primary yarn and wherein the additional. yarn or yarns are' in fact body-forming yarns in the same sense as the primary yarn or yarns in that the primary and additional yarn or yarns coordinate or cooperate to form and complete the fabric and, if desired, to formv and/or complete a design in or on one or both faces of the fabric. disclosed in copending application Serial No.y 232,424 filed Sept. 29, 1938. The present invention is also applicable to the tions and to cause the additional yarn which is normally being floated or laid in the fabric to be taken in the hooks of the projected thick butt needles so that as all theneedles are operated to casting position bythe regular knitting cams, wheels or other mechanism` designed for that purpose the thick butt needles will knit-in porv tions of the additional yarn and the remainder of the additional yarn will oat or will be inlaid in the fabric as disclosed in said copending applications.

In machines knitting non-patterned fabrics, the selectin-g or controlling wheel or wheels employed with the thick butt needles will be provided withplain open slots whereby the wheel will have no e'ect on any of the needles except those provided with the thick butts, in accordance with the present invention. However, in machines which normally are equipped with pattern'wheels, i. e., wheels set at an angle to a predetermined horizontal path of the butts of all or of selected groupsv of needles and which areknitting of fabrics Vof the kind and for the purf5.5 provided with cross slots in the peripheral faces of the pattern Wheel or wheels which respectively register with the needles and which are provided with plugs in predetermined slots adapted to engage the regular butts of predetermined regular needles for projecting such needles to tucking, welting, or clearing positions, depending upon the angles at which the respective wheels are set, the thick butt needles which are interchangeably inserted in the needle bed or beds in place of regular needles and which would normally be acted upon by plugs in predetermined slots in the pattern wheel or wheels in some instances and pass freely through predetermined empty slots in other instances, are acted upon at all times by the flat side face of these pattern wheel or wheels to project the needles having the thick butts to a position beyond that to which the regular butt needles are projected by the slot plugs so that the thick butt needles will take the additional yarn in their respective hooks and position the primary lyarn Vin tucking, welting, or clearing position-with respect to the needles having the thick butts, wherebythe portion of the pattern decreed by the pattern wheel or wheels to be knit of the primary yarn, if regular needles were operating in place of the thick butt needles, will be nulliedA when the thick butt needles are used in such places in the needle bed.

Thus, it willv be seen that regular pattern wheels can function with the thick butt needles of the present invention to cause the thick butt needles to reject the primary yarn and to take the additional yarn or to take both the primary yarn and the additional yarn when said yarns are fed to the needles in close proximity to .each other with the additional yarn in a slightly higher position than the primary yarn.

It will be also understood that in some instances the regular pattern wheel or wheels may merely nullify the portion of the pattern prescribed for knitting by regular needles intended to occupy the slots in which the thick butt needles are operating, at a feed for a primary yarn, and

' the thick butt needles to be raised to tucking,VV

welting, or clearing positions insofar as that particulai1 primary yarn feed is concerned and at which the thick butt needles will be placed in a position different from the regular butt needles so that the thick buttsA may be subsequently `engaged by the flat side face of an additional control'4whee1, i, e., a wheel without pattern plugs in any of the needle slots, whereby the thick butt needles will be further projected to take the additional yarn at a point remote to saidprimary yarn feed. Then, as the needles with the regular butts and those with the thick butts are subsequently lowered to casting position, the additional yarn will be knit-in in the fabric in lieu of the primary yarn and the primary yarn4 will be tucked or floated' at the stitch loops formed of the additional yarn.

In the above manner the additional yarn or yarns may becaused to form part or parts of a design coordinately with the primary yarn or yarns, or to form patterns or designs solely of itself in addition to designs formed solely of the primary yarn or yarns, or the additional yarn, elastic or inelastic, may be laid in a fabric composed of the primary yarn and tied in Vat the places where the additional yarnA or, yarns are knit-in in the fabric, to produce elastic or inelastic fabrics with the additional yarn or yarns anchored against slippage in thefabric.

This invention is also applicable in the knitting of ,various types of patterned fabrics of the plated pattern type wherein the elastic or inelastic yarn, as the case may be, will be laid in predetermined portions of predetermined courses and knit-in in predetermined portions of predetermined wales together with, and in front of, stitches formed of the primary body yarn, instead of in lieu thereof as noted. above, thereby forming a plated design or designs on one or both faces of the fabric, as desired.

f The present invention is particularly adaptable in the knitting of large sheets or tubes of large diameters, as disclosed in each of -the previously mentioned copending applications, wherein the sheet or tube is Vto be cut in pieces of one uniform size or into pieces of various predetermined sizes, and wherein opposite edges of such pieces are to be subsequently sewn or otherwise secured together in the making of various garments etc. such, for example, as hosiery tops. The thick butt needles in such cases would be arrangedin groups of two or more needles to each group and the groups would be placed in the needle bed, cylinder, or dial with the center lines of the groups spaced apart the required distance for cutting the desired size or different vsizes of blanks, the distance between any two groups determining the size of the blank coursewise of the fabric, and these distances may all be equal or they may be of diiferent measurements as desired, to make blanks of all one size or to make blanks of various sizes simultaneously.

In such cases the elastic or the inelastic yarn or yarns, as the case may be, are knit-in in wales adjoining or adjacent to each side of each of the cutting lines which cutting lines would coincide with the centers of groups of thick butt needles to prevent the elastic yarn, for example, from creeping back into the fabric and away from the cutting line when the fabric is cut through the center of a group of wales in which the knitting in of such yarn occurs. The knitting-in points may be as close together or as far apart as desired, which is not possible in some forms of jacquard machines, for example.

When wheels having no plug inserts in the slots thereof are used for controlling the thick butt needles solely wheels-may be of very small diameter. This is very desirable in small diameter machines having one or two feeds and in larger diameter machines having multiple feeds, especially the extremely large diameter machines having a great number of feeds arranged in relatively close relation to each other.

The thick butt needle of the present invention may also be employed with pattern wheels of the type shown in the patent of Nathan Levin, No. 2,024,530, dated December 17, 1935, and his Patent No. 1,925,450 or with the type of pattern wheel known as the Stafford and Holt wheel which is provided with movable plugs in the slots of the Wheel which may be manually or automatically projected outwardly from the body of the wheel into the slots or withdrawn from said slots as desired.

It will be understood that the thick butt or operating protuberance of the present invention may be applied to any needle, needle jack or other instrumentality associated with a knitting needle and which would or could be operated by a wheel having slots in its peripheral face through which a protuberance of the same thickness as that of the shank or body of such instrumentality would or could normally pass reness'. of the butt I4 over that of thev shank f2 isf gardless of the particular make or shape. of. the. needle,` etc. or whether the needle etc. was provided with a long, short' or intermediate length butt, or whether the needle etc. is of the Wire or punched metal type, single or double buttA and of a iiexible or rigid character and it Will be clear, therefore, that in such places throughout the specification and appended claims wherein the term "regularf is employed, `such term is intended to include any of the abovetypes, kinds or shapes which have one or more operating butts or protuberances normally of substantially the same thickness or of less thickness than the body or shank of such instrumentality and it isv intended that the term thick butt or protuberance which forms the subject matter of the present invention and distinguishes the instrumentality thereof from the regular instrumentalities of corresponding character, is applicable to any and all of the regular instrumentalities above noted in lieu of the regular butts er protuberances thereof.

vIn the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one form of thick butt needle made in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the needle shown in Fig. 1;`

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 shows the needle cooperating with a selecting or controlling wheel;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken onA the line 5 5, Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6 and 7 are front views` of modified forms of the thick butt needle.

The needle shown in the drawing is of' the-latchtype, but it will be obvious that the needle may v be lof the spring beard type without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The needle I comprises a shank 21 of any predetermined thickness, shown at a in Fig. 3, which isy adapted to be mounted in a needleslot 3 of corresponding width formed in aneed'lebedf, cyl-- inder or dial 4, of the knitting machine witht suiiicient working clearance between the side faces 5 and 6 of the shank 2 and the walls of? the slot to permit the needle to be moved longitu-A dinally in the slot but prevented from having? any degree of lateral movement therein. K

The upper end or neck 'I of the needle shank isr narrowed and if desired thinned with respect to the base portion 8 of the shank and may beprovided with the usual hook I0 and pivoted latch I I, or as above noted the neck I may be thinned, narrowed, pointedy and bent to form the ordinary well-known spring beard on the upper end of' the. shank 2.

Projecting laterally from the front face I2 of' the base portion 8 of the needle shank 2l the .1

needle is provided with an operating protuberance or butt I4 which is formed integralv with the needle shank or is integrally attached` to the shank to form a single irremovable part therewith or thereof. Y

As shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the butt I4 is of' ay distributed equally at opposite sides ofthe shank 2, while in Fig. 6 the increased thickness is disposed only atone side providing a single shoulder II'a. on the butt I4a; and in Fig. 7 the increasedthickness is at the oppositel side only of the needle. butt I4b providing a single shoulder IIbf.

As shown in Fig. 4, the shoulders IT, I'Ia or I'Ib are adapted to be engaged by a wall or shoulder 28 provided on and by the flat side 29 of the control wheel 2E at each side of each needle slot 2l formed on the peripheral face 2210i said wheel".l

The wheel 20y revolves about an axis 23 `which is disposed at an angle tov the vertical thereby throwing the body of" the wheel at an angle tothe horizontal and to the path c of the thick needle buttsy I4 and the butts 24 of the regular needles. 25Y among which the thick butt needles arel interspersed. As shown inv Fig. 4 the regular butts. 24 can pass freely through the butt slots 2I in thev wheel v2li as the needles or the wheel move horizontally, one with respect to the other, during whichy relative movement the wheel 24 revolves and causes the butt yslots 2| to register with the needles successively. The direction of rotation of' the wheel, indicated by the arrow| d, Fig. 4, isA such that the shoulders 28 on the wheel will approach the needle butt path from below and as the wheel revolves the shoulders 28 will rise on the angle of the wheel and engage the shoulders I'I of the needles I thereby raising the needles from the path c to the elevation at'which,

due te the difference` in the paths of the shoulders 28 and the shoulders I1, the one will move f out of contact with the other leaving the raised needle at the elevation of disengagement. The regular butts 24 of the regular needles 25 in the interim will normally maintain their positions in the path c entering and leaving thev respectivev slots 2'I without being in any way affected by the wheel 20.

However, if thel wheel 2U is a pattern wheel, predetermined slots 2| thereof will be provided' with plugs 26 which will permit the butts 24 of the needles 2,5 to enter and engage the lower edges 3U of the needle butts 24 and raise `these needles toa higher. position, for example, vfrom Welt to tucking position, depending ony the degree of the inclinedv position of the wheel and the position of the plugs 26 in the slots of the wheel,

the butts I4 of the needles I being too thickvto enter theslots 2I of the wheel 20 and to be engaged' by the plugs 26, are engaged by the shoulders or walls 28 of the wheel which raise these thick butt needles to aA higher position than tucking, for example, to latch clearing position.

- The needles 25 having thinner butts 24 'which thickness greater than the thickness ai of the shank 2, asillustrated at b in Fig. 3, with the side faces I5 and I6 of the butt disposed in outwardly' relatively spaced planes with respect to the. faces 5 and 6 of the shank 2, providing shoulders I'I' and I8 at the lower edge I9v of the butt I4I which extend beyond the facesA 5 vand'l respectively of' the shank 2. v

As shown in Figs. l and 3, the increased thickenter the open slots 2| pass through these slots4 without being raised by the wheel and are in. a lower `position than tucking, for example, in welt position. Thus, the wheel has raised needles from one position or level to two higher positions" or levels, which may be from idle or welt position to tuck and'v clearing positions.

There mayv bea difference in elevation between the flat face 29 of the Wheel 2.0 and the top buttengaging faces 21 of. the plugs 26, as indicated. at. e in Fig.V 4, which may vary to raise the regular butt needles engaged by the plugs'Z-G to one eleva;-y tion. and to raise the thick butt needles` to a' higher elevation. or the top faces 21 of the4 plugs 26 may be flush with the top face-29 ofthe wheel 20 whereby the thick butt needles engaged. rby said flat face 29 and the regular needles engagedby `the faces 21 of the plugs 26 would be raised to the same elevation.

In view of the above, it will be obvious that the thick butt needle of the present invention, in combination with the plugged pattern wheels of a knitting machine, or in combination with a wheel having no plugs in its slots and which is operating in conjunction with a wheel or wheels having plugs in predetermined slots or in combination with a wheel having no plugs in its slots and operating alone in a machine having no pattern mechanism of its own, or in combination with a wheel having no plugs and operating in a machine provided with jacquard mechanism or trick wheel' for controlling the needles independently, or in a machine provided with mechanism for making plated patterns is capable of wide and varied usage and many applications of the principles involved in the present invention will readily present themselves to one skilled in the art as a result of the disclosure herein.

It will be understood that the thick butt may be applied to a sinker or to a jack coupled to the needle instead of being on the needle itself, or the needle and the jack may each be provided with a thick butt, without departing from the spirit of the present invention, which resides essentially in the provision of a shoulder on at least one side of the operating protuberance of a knitting instrumentality.

It will also be understood that there is relative movement produced between the carrier 4 for the instrumentalities I and the axis 3 about which the Wheel 2|! rotates, either one or the other being held in a fixed position while the other moves laterally past the fixed one S that the slots 2| in the wheel register successively with the Shanks of the instrumentalities.

It will also be understood that there 'may be in one knitting machine one or more wheels with plugs 26 in predetermined slots 2| thereof and one or more wheels 20 without plugs in its slots working with one or more sets of the instrumentalities to obtain various effects which may be desired.

It will be obvious that in the Levin Patent No. 2,024,530, dated December 17, 1935, it is only necessary to intersperse needles having thick operating protuberances or butts among the regular needles in the cylinder to perform the purpose for which the present invention is intended, e. g. the thick protuberances being too thick to enter the notches of the design wheel will be moved or pushed inward by the walls or the teeth of said wheel so as to remove its butts 26 out of contact with the cam i9 and will remain in tuck position, for example, whereas the needles with the normal or thin protuberances will enter the design wheel notches or slots and will be raised by the cam I9 to clearing position, for example, In this case, the needles moved by the design wheel are the inactive ones, and the needles not moved by the design wheel are the active ones; whereas in the present application, the needles moved by the design wheel are the active ones, and the needles not moved by the design wheel are the inactive ones. However, the result in both cases is the same, e. g. certain needles are raised to higher position or level than other needles in the knitting machine, and in each case will produce the same fabric or effect.

We claim:

1. The combination of a series of knitting instrumentalities each comprising a shank of predetermined thickness between its opposite side faces, said instrumentalities being mounted in laterally spaced parallel relation to each other for relative movement therebetween, an operating protuberance projecting from an edge of each of said shanks, an operating wheel rotatably mounted adjacent said Shanks and provided with a series of slots having walls extending inwardly from its peripheral edge for receiving and normally permitting said protuberances to pass freely therethrough, and a shoulder on each of a predetermined number of said protuberances extending laterally beyond the plane of at least one of said faces of said shanks for engagement with said Walls of said wheel adjacent the slots registering with said shanks and preventing said predetermined protuberances from passing into and through said slots and thereby moving the same longitudinally.

2. The combination of a series of knitting instrumentalities each comprising a shank of predetermined thickness between its opposite side faces, said instrumentalities being mounted in laterallyy spaced relation to each other for relative movement therebetween, an operating protuberance projecting from each shank and normally of a thickness substantially equal to said thickness of said shank, an operating wheel rotatably mounted adjacent said shanks and provided with slots extending inwardly from its peripheral edge and of a width sufficient for reception of said normal thickness protuberances, and predetermined instrumentalities having protuberances of a thickness in excess of that of said normal protuberances and adapted to be engaged by portions of said wheel adjacent said slots to prevent excessive thickness protuberances from entering said slots.

3. The combination of a series of knitting instrumentalities each comprising a shank of predetermined thickness between its opposite side faces, said instrumentalities being mounted in laterally spaced relation to each other for relative movement therebetween, an operating protuberance projecting from each shank and vnormally of a thickness substantially equal to said thickness of said shank, an operating wheel rotatably mounted adjacent said Shanks and provided with slots extending inwardly from its peripheral edge and of a Width sufcient for reception of said normal thickness protuberances, plugs in predetermined slots for normally engaging normal protuberances of predetermined instrumentalities respectively entering the slots containing said plugs and predetermined instrumentalities having protuberances of a thickness in excess of that of said normal protuberances and adapted to be engaged by portionsof said wheel adjacent said slots to prevent excessive thickness protuberances from entering said slots, and being engaged by any plugs in the slots with which said excessive thickness protuberances register.

4. The combination of a series of knitting needles each comprising a shank of predetermined thickness between its opposite side faces, said needles being mounted in laterally spaced parallel relation to each other for relative movement therebetween, an operating protuberance projecting from one edge of each of said shanks, an operating wheel rotatably mounted adjacent said shanks and provided with a series of slots extending inwardly from its peripheral edge for receiving and normally permitting said protuberances to pass freely therethrough, and a shoulder `mined thickness between its opposite side faces,

said needles being mounted in laterally spaced relation to each other for relative movement therebetween, an operating protuberance projecting from each shank and normally of a thickness substantially equal to said thickness of said shank, an operating wheel rotatably mounted adjacent said shanks and provided with slots extending inwardly from its peripheral edge and of a width suiiicient for reception-of said normal thickness protuberances, and a predetermined number of said needles having protuberances of a thickness in excess of that of said normal protuberances and adapted to be engaged by portions of said wheel adjacent said slots to prevent said excessive thickness protuberances from entering said slots.

6. The combination of a series of knitting needles, a carrier for said needles having laterally spaced slots in which said needles are slidably mounted, a wheel rotatably mounted adjacent 9 said carrier with slots extending inwardly from the peripheral edge thereof, butts on predetermined needles of said series projecting outwardly from said carrier and normally adapted to enter and pass through the slots in said wheel, and

butts on other predetermined needles of said series shaped to engage with the walls adjacent said wheel slots to prevent the said shaped butts from entering said slots.

7. In a knitting machine the combination of a series of knitting needles, a carrier for said needles having laterally spaced slots in which said needles are slidably mounted, a wheel rotatably mounted adjacent said carrier with slots extending inwardly from the peripheral edge thereof, walls between the wheel slots, butts on predetermined needles of said series projecting outwardly from said carrier and shaped to enter and pass through the slots in said wheel, and butts on other predetermined needles of said series shaped to be engaged by the walls adjacent said wheel slots to prevent the last said butts from passing through said wheel slots.

8. The combination of a series of knitting instrumentalities respectively provided with operating butts, wherein the butts of predetermined instrumentalities are of a different thickness than the butts of the remainder of the instrumentalities of the series, and an operating wheel y rotatably mounted adjacent said instrumentalities for cooperation with said butts and provided with slots extending inwardly fromthe peripheral edge of the wheel, wherein predetermined slots are of a width to permit the butts of lesser thickness to pass freely therethrough while preventing corresponding passage of the butts of greater thickness.

9. In a knitting machine having a series of needles, said needles being provided with butts, the butts of certain of said needles being thicker than the butts of others of said needles, a selecting wheel rotatablyy mounted for cooperation with the butts of said needles, said wheel being supported on an axis obliquely disposed with respect to the shanks of said needles, said wheel containing slots extending inwardly from its periphery dening walls between the slots, certain of said slots and walls being designed to receive and pass the thinner needle butts and to reject and raise the needles having thicker butts.

10. In a circular knitting machine having a circular needle bed, a series of needles slidably mounted in said bed for independent needle action, certain of said needles being provided with relatively thin operating protuberances and a predetermined number of said needles being provided with relatively thick operating protuberances, a selecting instrumentality rotatably mounted adjacent said needle bed, said selecting instrumentality containing slots extending inwardly from its periphery, dening walls between said slots, and certain of said slots and walls being adapted to receive the relatively thinner operating protuberances and to reject and to move the relatively thicker operating protuberances.

11.` A knitting machine having a series of knitting instrumentalities, a series of control elements each individually associated with an instrumentality, certain of the control elements being of different shapethan others, and an instrumentality selecting device contacting with all of the control elements to selectively control selected ones of said series of instrumentalities in accordance with a predetermined set up on said selecting device and to control all of the instru-y mentalities having the said certain different shape control elements associated therewith regardless of said set up.

12. A knitting machine having a series of needles, a series of control elements each individually associated with a needle, certain of said elements being of diierent shape than others, and a needle selecting device contacting with all of the control elements to selectively control selected ones of said series of needles in accordance with a predetermined pattern on said device and tol control all of the needles having the said certain different shape control elements associated therewith regardless of said pattern.

JOSEPH SAFTLAS. MENDEL GROSSKOPF. 

